Saturday, February 27, 2016

Good morning! Did you have a good week? Are you ready for the weekend?

I am over winter, and dreaming of spring, odd really because I typically like winter. But this winter is so strange; some days we have blistering cold, some days rain and high humidity, some days its been up to 70 and this week I think it is monsoon season here. The relentless winds and rain are driving me crazy.

When traveling in France I would not be exaggerating if I said I eat an eclair for breakfast, lunch and sometimes as a snack, everyday I am there. A little excessive I know but you can never find them in the US as good as they are in France. That is I believe until now. These Coffee Eclairs from Kristin at Pastry Affair look exactly like the ones that I know and love to eat in France. So I am definitely going to be making these soon.

Both mother and fathers' day are just around the corner and I thought this Passport Art that Sandy from You May Be Wandering featured this week would be a great gift for the traveler in your life. It would also be great for an anniversary or birthday as well.

Image 5th and State

Speaking of travel, if you would like to travel to England this year with fellow blogger, landscape designer, and antique dealer, Debra of 5th and State go over and check out the trip she is leading this year. Beautiful gardens, private homes, antique fairs, shopping and more are all on the itinerary.

Or perhaps you have always wanted to travel in France, stay in a chateau and look for antiques and interesting finds? If so then check out Sharon of My French Country Home and her September tour of Normandy.

My sister sent me this great article, I'm Too Old For This by Dominique Browning for the NY Times. I think it is filled with excellent wisdom for not only women but men as well. In all honesty, I have been saying "I am to old for this" for the last two or three years and it makes me feel a lot better about things.

Are you a cereal fan? If so you might find this article interesting. As well this article in the Washington Post which explains why millennials don't eat cereal? I would like to say I am surprised at the reason but I'm not. Did you find anything interesting to read, watch, see, do or make this week while you were perusing the web? If so please share.Have a safe and great weekend.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Good mooring. How is your week so far? Mine has been great, except for the weather, its been rainy, foggy and cold. I hate to complain because the winter has been for the most part pretty mild but the beautiful, sunny 65 degree weekend has my mind on Spring.

I spent several hours walking this weekend; it was so nice to feel the sun on my face the gentle breeze blowing my hair. The signs of Spring are not really in evidence although I did see a few robins does that count?

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Good morning! Did you enjoy your weekend? Mine weekend was great; the weather was spring-like and I spent everyday taking long walks with my dogs and solitary walks on the beach. A relaxing, rejuvenating and perfect weekend.

I have been trying lately to eat better during the week and then on the weekend I let myself have a little treat. This weekend I made a small batch of these scrumptious Vanilla Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce.

In a medium bowl whisk together the ricotta cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Whisk in flour until just combined.

Heat canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat or spray skillet with cooking spray. Working in batches add batter to pan, a 1/4 of a cup at a time for each pancake. Cook until browned, about 4-5 minutes each side, then flip and brown on the other side.

Blueberry Sauce

11/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

11/2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries

2 tablespoons sugar

Combine the lemon juice and the cornstarch in a small bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries and 2 tablespoons of water. Then stir in the lemon juice/cornstarch mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer stirring in until the sauce has thickened. This should take about 5 minutes.

What did you do that was relaxing, fun, rejuvenating, or interesting this weekend? I hope hat whatever you did I that is was great!

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Good morning! I am so happy that it is Friday I feel like dancing a jig, have you had a week like that as well? My week was crazy; crazy busy, crazy weird and crazy long. All I want to do is order a pizza, have a glass of champagne to celebrate the weekend and read. Too bad it is so early in the morning.

I am not an artist nor am I artistic but I appreciate art of all kinds and this week I discovered a few artists that you might enjoy as well.

I love doughnuts, actually I REALLY LOVE doughnuts. They are my favorite sweet treat. Although I do not make them often I do buy them a lot. I am thinking that I could just get myself one of these fabulous paintings by Emily Evelath who's work is being shown at the Danes Corey Gallery and perhaps satiate my cravings.

If you are not a fan of doughnuts you could commission Jacqueline Poirier, The Crazy Plate Lady to create for you that features and of your favorite things. Jacqueline is the artist in residence at the Ritz- Carlton Toronto and if you eat at their restaurant you will be eating on one Jacqueline's hand painted plates. You can follow her on Instagram or Facebook f you are interested in seeing more of her work.

I personally do not have any tattoos but if you would like to see what a few of your favorites paintings from the Louvre would like like with a few, check out this post on Bohemianizm. Artist director Nicholas Amiard created these interesting pieces using photoshop.

I don't know about you but in the winter when it is cold and snowy, I am a lazy cook. By that I mean, I make lots things in my crockpot like soups, sauces, meats that I can make once and eat more than once. One of my favorite bloggers Jenny Steffens made this crockpot meat and then created a weeks worth of weekdays menus starting with this meat!

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Good morning! How was your weekend? Are you lucky enough to have off today for Presidents day? My husbands' office is closed and I am my own boss so although we are not doing our "regular" jobs we are taking the day to get some things done around the house.

Did you have a nice weekend? Did you do anything special for Valentines day? It was so cold here that we stayed in and just enjoyed being at home relaxing by the fire and ordering take out.

I did make another batch of chocolate chip cookies, which I think are best just out of the oven, as well as this over the top Dulce de leche Cheesecake.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake

Crust

13/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

11/2 Tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup butter melted

Mix all crust ingredients together in a bowl and then press into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9" inch spring form pan. Place in refrigerator for 10 minutes while you make the filling

Filling

2 8oz. packages of softened cream cheese

11/2 cups granulated sugar

11/2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 16oz. carton of sour cream

11/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon of salt

4 eggs

1 can dulche de leche, homemade or purchased*

Preheat oven to 350. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment add cream cheese and beat until smooth, then add the cornstarch and the sugar. Beat well to combine. Add the sour cream, vanilla extract and salt. Mix until incorporated. On low speed add eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated.

Pour the batter over the crust and bake for 60 minutes. Cheesecake should still be jiggly in the middle. Cool on a wire rack and then run a knife around the edges. Cool overnight in the refrigerator. Once ready to serve take the cheesecake out of the refrigerator at least an hour before and then pour the dulce de leche over the top and smooth out. Cut, serve, enjoy!

Note: Click Here for a "recipe" to make your own dulce de leche or check the internet for other "recipes".

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Good morning! Are you braced for the Polar Vortex coming this weekend or are you lucky enough to be in the parts of the country experiencing record warm weather? I am going to be in polar-land, I think it is supposed to be 0 degrees this weekend. That means I will be hunkering down next to the fire and eating a bunch of comfort food.

You are probably wondering how this is different from every other Winter weekend, well its Valentines day so I'll probably have a vase of flowers next to my pile of books and a big box of chocolate as well.

OK, first things first, get all of the ingredients that you need to make a batch of these cookies, you can thank me or hate me later but they are so, so, so GREAT! I made these for myself, my husband and many friends to have this weekend. You can find the recipe at Once Upon a Chocolate Life.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Did you know that an estimated 1 billion Valentine's cards are sent to commemorate the holiday, this makes it the second most popular card sending holiday second to Christmas. Not surprisingly, 85% of the cards are sent by women.

I have been reading a lot this week about people who get depressed on Valentine's day because they do not have a significant other, someone they love, to celebrate with. When in fact love is all around them; their family, friends and more. I might add that most people are surrounded by love all of the time. So why should we celebrate that only one day a year?

I know that Valentine's day is supposed to be a romantic holiday filled with hearts, flowers, cupids and chocolate. But frankly I like to spend it celebrating love, all kinds of love not just "romantic" love. The love of good friends, family, my husband and even sending a few cards to people that I know who have lost their loved ones. After all, who doesn't want to be told they are loved and cherished?

I personally think Valentine's day should be about celebrating that. Life is so short and very precious. Why not spend this Valentine's day telling your husband, wife, kids, family, friends and more telling them how much they mean to you, how special they are and how much you love them.

Make them a special meal, bake them a little treat, and definitely give them a handwritten card or note.

On second thought, why wait for Valentine's day? Why not tell them today?

Followers

Endorsements, Affiliate Links

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for a link to any products or services from this blog. Your support keeps this blog running and is greatly appreciated. AMAZON DISCLOSURE: The owner of this website is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon properties including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com.